Packaging machine



Feb. 21, 1933. s. RJHowARD PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 14, 19

27 4 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 21, 1933, s. R. HOWARD PACKAGING MACHINE Feb. 21, 1933. s. R. HOWARD 1,898,538

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 14, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJ(III/In III/III); IIIIIIII/IIIII/II/IL Feb. 21, 1933. s. R. HOWARD PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 14, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Feb. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STANLEY R. HOWARD, OF EAST MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PNEUMATIC SCALE CORPORATION, LIMITED, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS PACKAGING MACHINE Application filed June 14, 1927. Serial No. 198,741.

This invention relates to an automatic packaging machine.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved automatic packaging machine in which provision is made for controlling the operation of the machine in a novel and superior manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic packaging machine of novel and improved construction having novel mechanism for controlling the operation of the machine from the packages being discharged therefrom.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a carton forming machine of novel and improved construction having provision for discharging the cartons therefrom in a plurality of paths and in which provision is made for selectively controlling the discharge of the cartons through said paths.

These and other features of the present invention will be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings, illustrating the preferred embodimentof the invention, Figure 1 is a plan view of a sufiicient portion of a carton forming machine embodying the features of the present invention to enable them to be understood; Fig. 2 is a partial front elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3

is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, of a portion of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly in horizontal section of a portion of the control mechanism embodied in the present machine; and Figs. 5 and 6 are additional details of the control mechanism to be referred to.

The different features of the present invention are illustrated as embodied in an automatic packaging machine comprising a carton forming machine whichfunctions to form bottom sealed cartons, although it is to be understood that viewed in the broader aspects of the invention certain features there of may be embodied in other forms of packaging machines. In practice in order to obtain maximum production it is sometimes desirable to employ a carton forming machine for forming bottom sealed cartons in con- In the illustrated machine provision is made for discontinuing the discharge of cartons from the carton forming machine through a particular path in the event of the development of an abnormal condition in the discharge of the cartons through such path, such as the accumulation of an excessive number of cartons in the path. Provision is also preferably made for restoring the carton forming machine to normal operation when such an abnormal condition in the discharge of the cartons has been removed. The control mechanism for effecting these results is preferably arranged whereby the discharge of cartons in the carton forming machine through all paths except one in which an abnormal condition has developed, is permitted to continue, and provision is also preferably made in the illustrated machine for permitting the carton forming machine to continue to run out such incompletely formed cartons as may be in process of being formed in the machine following the detection of an abnormal condition in any of the discharge paths.

Referring to the drawings, the carton forming machine illustrated therein and embodying the different features of the pres ent invention may and preferably will comprise a machine for feeding collapsed or socalled knocked-down cartons, opening successive collapsed cartons, feeding the opened cartons to folding and sealing instrument-alities for closing the bottom flaps thereof, and from which the successively formed cartons are discharged through a plurality of leading to two other packaging units, such as two lining machines or two weighing machines. The present carton forming machine may and preferably will comprise the carton feeding and sealing machine illustrated in the patents to S. E. Howard, No. 1,342,047, June 1, 1920, and No. 1,593,827, July 27', 1926, with respect to its major details of construction and operation. The folding and sealing instr'umentalities employed, while not illustrated in the drawings of the said Howard patents, may comprise the usual folding and sealing mechanisms employed in machines of this character, such for example as those illustrated in the patent to W. S. Scales, No. 767,445, Aug. 16, 1904, for machine for setting up cartons.

Referring now to the drawings and to the aforesaid Howard patents in general, the illustrated carton feeding and sealing machine comprises a carton feeding unit including guide rails 10, 12 which constitute a magazine or stack support and feed for the collapsed cartons, the latter being assembled in the magazine vertically with the bottom forming flaps lowermost. The collapsed cartons may and preferably will be withdrawn from the stack between the guide rails 10, 12 by mechanism illustrated in the drawings and in the Howard Patent No. 1,593,827, and including a revoluble knife 14, and conveyed by said mechanism through the usual pair of guides 20 into the usual pocket 27 illustrated diagrammatically in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings and shown in detail in Fig. 2 of the Howard Patent No. 1,342,047. The collapsed carton is squared up in the pocket 27 and is lifted by the pocket onto the forming block 28 with the bottom flaps projecting below the bottom of the block. A plurality of forming blocks, herein shown as four in number, are mounted upon the usual spider '30 arranged at the top of the machine, and the spider 30 is intermittently rotated by the usual mechanism to present the cartons to different stations. The mechanism for operating the pocket 27 and for rotating the spider 30 may comprise that shown in the Howard Patent No. 1,342,047. Provision is made for folding and sealing the bottom flaps of the cartons as the latter are rotated into successive stations, and for this purpose the folding and sealing instrumentalities illustrated in the Scales- Patent No. 767,445 may be employed. Inasmuch as the construction of the bottom sealing machine per se constitutes no part of the present invention, the details thereof have been omitted from the drawings to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and for further detailed description of the construction and operation of these parts, reference is made to the above mentioned Howard and Scales patents.

After the bottom flaps have been folded and sealed to constitute a closure for the bottom of the carton, the latter is ejected from the forming block 28 by the usual ejector mechanism, when the block has arrived at the fourth station, and the carton in this form is deposited upon a discharge conveyor 40.

The mechanism employed in the illustrated machine for withdrawing successive collapsed cartons from the stack or magazine, opening them and feeding them to the bottom sealer is preferably the same as that employed in the Howard Patent No. 1,593,827 to which reference may be made for a more complete disclosure of any features not shown in detail in the drawings herein.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings and in the said Howard patent, the stack of collapsed cartons is supported between the guide rails 10, 12 upon two supporting members 50, 51, with the cartons arranged vertically. The cartons are successively withdrawn from the stack by a knife 14 havin a relatively narrow blade which is adapted to be raised from the full to the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 8 of the aforesaid Howard patentto cause it to enter the carton, and which is thereafter swung through an arc of substantially 180 to open the carton and to deliver one corner thereof between gripping rolls 54, 56 by which the carton is fed between the usual guides 20 to be conveyed into the pocket 27. The knife 14 cooperates with a relatively flat knife blade 58, Fi s. 1 and 5, the latter being secured by a brac et 59 upon one end of a lever 60 pivoted at 61 in an open slot 62 in a bracket 63 projecting from the frame of the machine (see Fig. 9 of said Howard patent), and the knife blade 58 is actuated to be raised from the full to the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 8 of said Howard patent, by a cam 64 on the main cam shaft 65, the movements of the cam being transmitted through a cam roller 66 upon a forked cam arm 67, through a bell crank 68 pivoted upon a stud supported upon the machine frame. A pin and slot connection 70,71 serves to time the movements of the knife 58 to cause the latter to withdraw from the carton during the early part of the movements of the revoluble knife 14. The function of the relatively flat knife 58 is to engage the interior of the rear side of the carton, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the aforesaid Howard patent, to hold it firmly against the stack while the revoluble knife operates to open the carton. A light spring 74 is provided for engaging the forward side of the carton to cause the carton to be directed to the grip ing rolls by the movements of the revoluble nife 14. The latter is mounted upon a bracket 78 slidably mounted upon a square shaft 80 journalled in suitable bearings in the machine frame and capable of being rotated through a beveled gear 81 upon the lower end thereof and a beveled segment 82 formed on an arm 83 mounted upon a stud 84 su iported in a part of the machine frame, see ig. 5 of the drawings and Figs. 5 and 8 of said Howard patent. The stud 84 has fast thereon a second arm 93 which is rocked by a cam 86 upon thev cam shaft 65 through the cooperation with the cam 86 of a cam roll 88 upon a forked cam arm89, the latter being adjustably connected by a threaded rod 90 to a hub 92 having a 94 received within a slot in the lever 93. he cam 86 operates to cause the revoluble knife 14 to swing through an arc of substantially 180 from its carton entering position to its carton opening position, and the knife 14 is returned during the normal operation of the machine by a spring 100 attached to the pin 94 and having the other end thereof attached to a part of the machine frame. The cam shaft 65 extends transversely'of the carton feeding mechanism and is driven in-the usual manner through the sprocket chain 104, through the sprocket 106 on a counter shaft 108, and through cooperating gears 110, 112 on the counter shaft and mam shaft respectively. Provision is made for raising the revoluble knife 14 to introduce it into'the collapsed carton at the same'time that the flat knife 58 is'raised for this purpose, and to this end the lever 60 is provided with an extension 114, shown in Fig. 8 of the aforesaid Howard patent, which is received between the flanges of a flanged collar 116 formed on the hub of the bracket 78 which carries the knife 14, so that both knives are raised by the cam 64 through the linkage previously described.

After a collapsed carton has been withdrawn from the magazine and conveyed by the revoluble knife 14 between the gripping rolls 54, 56, said carton is then moved be tween the guides 20 into the pocket 27 by a revoluble pusher member comprising a finger 300 mounted on the end of an arm 302 secured on the upper end of a vertical rock shaft 304 journalled in suitable bearings 306 attached to the machine frame, (Figs. 1 and 3). The arm 302 and finger 300 are rocked by an edge cam 310 through a cam roller 312 on a cam arm 314 secured on the lower end of the rock shaft 304. The cam roller is retained against the cam by a spring 318, one end of which is attached to the cam arm and the second end of which is attached to a fixed portion of the machine. After each carton is deposited in the pocket 27, it is raised onto the particular block 28 which is at such time situated above the pocket and thereafter the bottom flaps are folded and sealed in the manner and preferably by the mechanism illustrated in the Howard and Scales patents above referred to. When each carton has been intermittently rotated by the spider 30, to the fourth or ejecting station, it is ejected from its block and caused to drop upon the conveyor 40, so that during the operation of the machine successive cartons are dro ped upon the conveyor 40.

rovision is made for conveying the cartons thus deposited upon the conveyor 40, from the carton forming machine in a plurality of paths, and as herein shown provision is made or causing the conveyor 40 to discharge the cartons from the machine in two separate paths or lines, thereby permitting the single carton forming machlne to supply cartons to two succeeding packaging unlts, illustrated diagrammatically at 117, 118 in Fig. 1, such as lining machines or weighing machines.

As herein shown, the conveyor 40 is made in the form of an endless belt constantly driven from a suitable source of power in the direction of the arrow 119, Figs. 1 and 2, and passing around pulleys 120 and 121 rotatably mounted adjacent the bottom sealing mechanism and the machines 117 and 118, respectively. A fixed guide member 122 and a pair of adjustably fixed guide members 123 are located above the conveyor 40 and are arranged to provide pathways 124 and 125 through which cartons placed by the bottom sealing mechanism on the moving conveyor 40 and directed into said pathways will be conveyed to the machines 117 and 118, respectively, by said conveyor. In order to direct alternate cartons into the pathways 124 and 125, respectively, distributor fingers 126 are provided, being secured at one end to a vertical rock shaft 127 journalled in fixed brackets 128 at the left of the guide member 122, viewing Figs. 1 and 2. Provision is made for rocking the shaft 127 to alternately position the distributor fingers 126 in the positions indicated in full and dotted lines, respectively, in Fig. 1, to direct alternate cartons being moved along by the conveyor, to the pathways 124 and 125. To this end an arm 129 is secured at one end to the shaft 127 and a block 131 pivoted in the upper end of a cam arm 132 is connected by a link 130 to the shaft 127. The cam arm 132 is pivotally mounted by means of a hub 133 on a fixed stud 176 secured in the machine frame, and is provided with a cam roll 134 which engages a cam groove formed in a cam 135. The cam 135 is mounted to rotate with a sleeve 136 pivotally mounted on the cam shaft 65, and as one carton is deposited on the conveyor 40 for each revolution of the shaft 65 and at it is necessary to have the distributor fingers 126 complete one cycle of operation for each two cartons deposited on the conveyor, provision is made for rotating the sleeve 136 and the cam 135 carried therepinion 138 secured to the counter shaft 108,

the relative sizes of the gear 137 and pinion 138 being such that the sleeve 136 is driven allowing the movement of the cartons through the other pathway to continue, preferably in the usual manner and at normal speed. If an accumulation of cartons occurs in all of the pathways, the discharge of cartons from the carton forming machine is entirely stopped. Thereafter, if either of the lining or weighing machines being supplied with cartons through the pathways resumes its normal operation and takes the accumulated cartons from the pathway, provision is made for automatically restoring the discharge of cartons from the machine through said pathway.

As herein shown, when an abnormal accumulation of cartons occurs in either of the pathways 124 or 125, the supply of cartons thereto is stopped by preventing the carton feeding mechanism from feeding to the bottom sealing mechanism, the alternate cartons which would thereafter be normally transferred to said pathway 'as it was discharged from the carton forming machine. The bottom sealing mechanism is, however, permitted to continue to fold and seal the bottom flaps of those cartons which have been previously fed to it by the carton feeding mechanism, in order. to prevent the flaps of said cartons from adhering to the sealing instrumentalities and to prevent the adhesive from drying on said flaps, and provision is made for accommodating inrsaid pathway such of said cartons as are thereafter guided the-reinto as will be described. a

As shown in Fig. 3, the carton detector mechanism includes curved feeler members 139 and 140 secured on rock shafts 141 and 142 extending beneath the lower portion of the conveyor 40, being normally reciprocated across the conveyor 40 and across the pathways 124 and 125, respectively. The rock shafts 141 and 142 are journalled in brackets 145 and 146, and provision is made for alternately rocking said shafts through suitable connections, to reciprocate the feeler members, from cams 151 and 152 mounted to rotate with the sleeve 136 on the cam shaft 65. For this purpose, rocking levers 169, 17 0 are secured at one end to the rock shafts 141, 142, and the upper ends of links 171, 172 are pivotally connected to the rocking levers 169, 170. The lower ends of the links 171, 172 are pivotally connected to one end of cam arms 173, 174 pivoted at their other ends on the stud 176. Cam rolls 177, 178 are pivotally mounted on the cam arms 173 and 174, and

The feeler members 139, 140 normally reciprocate alternately across the pathways 124, 125 without engaging a carton, being timed to pass through the spaces between successive normally discharged cartons, but in the event of an accumulatlon of cartons in either of said pathways the corresponding feeler member will engage a carton and will be prevented thereby from further movement. If the feeler member 139 engages a carton and is prevented thereby from moving across the pathway 124, the cam arm 173, which is connected to said feeler member by the rock shaft 141, rocking lever 169 and link 171, will be held in a' raised position against the action of the spring 175 during the remainder of the cycle of rotation of the cam 151, and this action will be repeatedduring succeeding cycles as long as the accumulation of cartons remains in the pathway 124. Similarly, if an accumulation of cartons occurs in the pathway 125 and the feeler member 140 is thereby prevented from moving across said pathway, the cam arm 174 which is connected to said feeler member through the rock shaft 142, rocking lever 170 and link 172 will be held in a raised position against the action of the spring 179 during the re-. mainder of the cycle of rotation\of the cam 152 and during succeeding cycles while the accumulation of cartons remains in the pathway 125. WVhen the normal downward movement of either of the cam arms 173, 174 is thus prevented by the arresting of the movement of one of the feeler members 139, 140 due to an accumulation of cartons in the corresponding pathway, provision is made for preventing the feed to the bottom sealing machine of the next carton which in the normal operation of the machine would be thereafter transferred to said pathway, and this action is repeated on succeeding alternate feeding operations of the machine while the accumulation of cartons remains in said pathway. Thisis accomplished by preventing the carton opening and feeding knife 14 from being returned to its operative position, thus preventing it from entering the endmost carton of the stack in the magazine to open the same and feed it to the gripping rolls 54,

56. At the same time the revoluble pusher member 300 is locked to revent it from operating to feed to the poo et 27 a carton previously fed through the gripping rolls and remaining in position between the guides 20.

In order to prevent the knife 14 from entering the endmost carton to open and feed the same, a stop screw 160 is adjustably mounted in the lower end of a stop arm 162 secured to a rock shaft 164 which is journalled in fixed bearings 165. The shaft 164 is normally rocked from a cam 196 mounted to rotate with the cam shaft by means of a cam arm 192 secured at its upper end to the shaft 164 and carrying at its lower end a cam roll 194 which engages the cam 196. A spring 200 connected between a pin in the upper end of the arm 160 and a pin secured in a fixed part of the machine normally maintains the cam roll 194 in contact with the cam 196. An abutment 166 is formed on the forked cam arm 89 and the adiustment of the stop screw 160 is such that while the machine is operating normally and -no accumulations of cartons occur in either of the pathways 124, 125, the abutment 166 will not be engaged by the stop screw 160. When, however, such an accumulation of cartons does occur and one of the cam arms 173, 174 is consequently held in a raised position, the rock shaft 164, stop arm 162 and stop screw 160 are locked in the positions indicated in Fig. 5, by mechanism which will be hereinafter described, and the stop screw 160 thereafter engages the abutment 166 on the cam arm 89 and prevents the cam roll 88, on said cam arm, from returning under the influence of the spring 100, the full amount necessary, to return the knife 14, through the connections previously described, to its normal carton entering position. Under these circumstances, the knife 14 is permitted to move only to the position indicated in Fig. 1, to the left of the endmost carton in the stack, and

when said knife is thereafter raised, as previously described. instead of entering said carton to open and feed it, it moves upwardly outside of the carton, and when swung to the left will not open and feed the carton as it otherwise normally would.

In order to lock the shaft 164 in the position above described to prevent the feeding of a carton at the desired time, a latch arm 187, pivoted on the stud 176, is normally held against a fixed stop pin 189 by a spring 188 connected between a pin in the latch arm and a pin secured in the frame of the machine, as illustrated in Fig. 6. In this position the latch arm 187 engages an abutment 190 formed on the cam arm 192 and prevents the cam arm 192 from being moved to the right, viewing Fig. 6, thus locking the shaft 164, arm 162 and stop screw 160 in the position shown in Fig. 5 with the stop screw in the path of the abutment 166 on the cam arm 89.

During the normal operation of the machine when no accumulation of cartons occurs in either pathway 124, 125, provision is made ment 166 and allow the knife 14 to be swung to its carton entering position in order that it may thereafter enter a carton to open and feed the same. As herein shown, the latch arm 187 is arranged to be tripped by either one of two tripping screws 182, 183, connected to and actuated by the feeler members 139, 140 respectively. The tripping screw 182 is adjustably secured in an arm 184 formed on the hub 186 of the cam arm 17 3 and the tripping screw 183 is similarly secured to an extension arm 185 secured to an arm 191 formed on the hub 193 of the cam arm 174. During the operation of the machine on alternate cycles of rotation of the cam shaft 65, the cam arm 173 is moved downwardly by the spring 175,. and the feeler member 139 is reciprocated inwardly or to the right, viewing Fig. 3, across the pathway 124 if there is no accumulation of cartons in said pathway. When the cam arm 173 has nearly completed its downward movement, the tripping screw 182 engages the latch arm 187 and depresses it out of the path of the abutment 190 of the cam arm 192. This permits said cam arm to be thereafter moved to the right, viewing Fig. 6, to withdraw the stop screw 160 from the path of the abutment-166 and to render the carton feeding mechanism operative to feed a carton to the bottom sealing mechanism, and which carton will thereafter be discharged to the pathway 124. If there is an accumulation of cartons in the pathway 124, however, the cam arm 173 will be held in a raised position, as previously described, by the engagement of the feeler 139 with one of the accumulated cartons, the tripping screw 182 will not engage the latch arm 187, and said latch arm will remain in the position shown in Fig. 6, locking the shaft 164 and thereby preventing the feed of a carton at this time, as previously described. During the other alternate cycles of rotation of the cam shaft 65, the cam arm 174 is moved downwardly by its spring 179 and the feeler member 140.is reciprocated inwardly or to the left, viewing Fig. 3, across the pathway 125, when there is no accumulation of cartons thereon. When the cam arm 174 nears the end of its downward movement, the tripping screw 183 engages a plate 195 secured to the latch arm 187 and swings said latch arm 187 upwardly out of the path of the abutment 190 on the cam arm 192. The arm 192 is thus permitted to be thereafter moved with one of the accumulated cartons before" the tripping screw 183 engages the plate 195 and the latch arm 187 will remain in the position shown in Fig. 6 and'the feed of a carton to the bottom sealing mechanism will, at this time be prevented.

When, following the rendering of the carton feeding mechanism inoperative by the accumulation of cartons in either pathway, the accumulation is removed either by the operator, or by the particular packaging unit 117, or 118 starting up again, then the feeding of the cartons is automatically restored to normal, by the resumption of the corresponding feeler member 139, 140 of its normal reciprocation and the accompanying tripping of the latch member 187 in the normal manner above described. When, during the operation of the machine, an accumulation of cartons occurs in both of the pathways, then the latch member 187 is not tripped by either of the tripping screws 182, 183, and as a result the carton feeding mechanism is rendered completely inoperative and remains inoperative until the accumulation of cartons in either pathway becomes cleared whereupon the feeding of those cartons upon alternate cycles of operation which will discharge into the cleared pathway is automatically resumed.

At the same time that the carton opening I and feeding mechanism is rendered inoperative to open a carton and feed it between the gripping rolls 54, 56, provision is made for rendering the revoluble arm 302 and carton pusher 300 inoperative to feed to the pocket 27 a carton which might have been previously fed to a position between the guides 20, and for this purpose means are provided for locking said arm and carton pusher in the position shown in Fig. 1. To this end, a latch 320 pivotally mounted on the cam arm 314 is normally held with a stop pin 322 thereon against the arm 314 by a spring 324. A collar 330 is secured on the rock shaft 164, and when said shaft is locked in the position indicated in Fig. 5, an abutment 332 on said collar engages the latch 320, as shown in Fig. 1, and locks the arm 302 and pusher 300 in the inoperative position shown in said fig'ure. During the normal operation of the machine, however, when no accumulation of cartons is detected by a feeler member moving across one of the pathways 124, 125, the shaft 164 is rocked so as to withdraw the abutment 332 from the path of the latch 320 and permits the arm 302 and pusher 300 to operate to feed a carton from between the guides 20 to the pocket 27.

While the different features of the present invention have been illustrated and described as embodied in a carton forming machine, it will be understood that viewed in its broader aspects, the invention may be embodied in other packaging machines within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In a packaging machine, in combination, means for feeding successive articles into the machine, means for discharging the articles from the machine in a plurality of paths including a conveyor, distributor mechanism for diverting the articles into different paths upon the conveyor, and control mechanism cooperating with the articles being discharged through each path for controlling the conveyance of articles into any particular path in which an abnormal condition exists while permitting the conveyance of articles into such of the paths in which no abnormal conditions exist.

2. In a packaging machine, in combination, article feeding means, means for discharging the articles from the machine in a plurality of paths, and control mechanism rendered operative upon the development of an abnormal condition in the discharge of the articles through one path, for rendering the said article feeding means inoperative to feed those articles which would be discharged through said path while permitting the feeding of articles through the remaining paths.

3. In a packaging machine, in combination, article feeding means, means for discharging the articles from the machine in a plurality of paths, and control mechanism rendered operative upon the development of an abnormal condition in the discharge of the articles through one path, for rendering the said article feeding means only inoperative to feed those articles which would be discharged through said path, and for restoring said article feeding means to normal operation when such abnormal condition is removed.

4. In a packaging machine, in combination, means for feeding successive articles into the machine, means for discharging the articles from the machine in a plurality of paths, and means for cutting off the discharge of articles through one path in the event of accuarticles from the machine, said means being rendered operative in the event of an accumulation of articles being discharged through one of the paths and having provision for permitting articles to be discharged through the remaining path.

6. In a machine for operating on cartons, means for feeding successive cartons thereto, means for discharging successive cartons therefrom through a plurality of paths, means for detecting an accumulation of cartons in any of said paths, means operative on the detection of an accumulation of cartons in any path for preventing the feed of those cartons to the machine which would thereafter be discharged through said path while permitting the feed of cartons to the remaining paths to be continued, said means including a member normally rocked to permit the feed of a carton to the machine, a second member normally rocked to permit said movement of said first member, and means for preventing said movement of said second member in the event of said accumulation of cartons.

7. In a carton forming machine, in combination, means for feeding cartons into the machine, means for discharging cartons from the machine in a. plurality of paths, and control mechanism for controlling the operation of the machine including a plurality of detectors one for each path for cooperating with the cartons being discharged in each path to detect an abnormal condition ther,ein, and means operatively connected with the carton feeding means and with the detectors for cutting off the feeding of alternate cartons upon detection of an abnormal condition by either detector while permitting the feeding v of cartons into the path inwhich no abnormal condition exists.

8. In a carton forming machine, in combination, carton feeding means, means for conveying cartons from the machine in a plurality of paths, detecting means for cooperating with the cartons being discharged through each path to detect an abnormal condition therein, and means operatively connected with the detecting means and carton feeding means for controlling the operation of the latter to cut off the supply of cartons to that path only in which an abnormal condition has arisen in the discharge of cartons therethrough.

9. In a carton forming machine, in combination, carton feeding means, means for conveying cartons from the machine in a plurality of paths, detecting means for cooper-. ating with the cartons being discharged through each path, and means operatively connected with the detecting means and carton feeding means for terminating, upon detcetion of an abnormal condition in the discharge of=eartons through one of the paths, the further discharge of cartons through such path only so long as such abnormal condition exists.

10. In a carton forming machine, in combination carton feeding means, means for conveying the cartons from the machine in a plurality of paths, a feeler member arranged to reciprocate between adjacent cartons be ing normally discharged through each path and adapted to engage a carton when an accumulation takes place, and means operatively connected with each fe'eler member and with the carton feeding means for rendering the latter inoperative to feed those cartons which would be discharged through the particular path in which the accumulation occurs.

11. In a carton forming machine, in combination, means for feeding successive cartons into the machine including a movable pusher member, means for successively discharging the cartons from the machine through a plurality of paths, and means for preventing the operation of the pusher member, in the event of the development of an abnormal condition in any of said paths, on those cartons which would thereafter be normally discharged through said path while permitting its operation on those cartons to be discharged through such of the paths in which no abnormal condition exists.

In testimony whereof I have signed my 

